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Huaqing Hot Springs

Introduction

The Huaqing Hot Springs is located in Lingtong District, about 35 kilometers east of the downtown of Xi'an. Historically, during the Western Zhou Dynasty the construction of the Li Palace was undertaken on this spot. In the Qin Dynasty, a stone pool was built

and was given the name Lishan Hot Springs. The site was enlarged into a bigger palace during the Han Dynasty, and was renamed, the Li Palace. During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong ordered the construction of the Winter Palace. Emperor Xuanzong had a walled palace built at the foot the Lishan Mountain in the year 747. It was known as the Huaqing Palace. It also had the name Huaqing Hot Springs because of its location over the hot springs.

From the magnificent Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang to the tranquil garden of the Huaqing Pool, a visitor will feel relaxed. The hot springs of the Huaqing Pool were made the “imperial bath” 3,000 years ago and were known to be the place where the famous beauty of the Tang Dynasty Yang Yu Huang took her bath. Visitors can still see the remains of the royal bath once used by Emperor Tang Xuanzong and Lady Yang Gui Fei, but the colorfully decorated palace buildings are long gone. We can only rely on our imagination and the descriptions of the tour guide to picture the splendid scene in the Tang Dynasty.

Behind the Huaqing Pool, the Li Shan Mountain was the place where Emperor Xuanzong and Lady Yang had their love whispers. On top of the mountain remains the ancient beacon tower where King Yu of the Zhou Dynasty fooled his knights and warriors with a false beacon according to legend. He did this to please his beauty, Bao Ci, but this act eventually helped him to lose the support of his people.

The present day Huaqing Pool is comprised of the royal garden, the palace buildings and an exhibition of cultural relics including the remains of the pools where Lady Yang used to take a bath. Though the royal bath is gone, the management of the park has developed herbal bath products which the visitors can enjoy and recall some of the luxury of the royal house at this time.

Huaqing Hot Springs is located at he foot of the Lishan Mountain, a branch of the Qinling Range. Standing 1,256 meters high, it is covered with pines and cypress and looks very much like a dark green galloping horse from a long distance away. In ancient times, a black horse was called "Li", and this is bow it got its name, Lishan.

In the Tang Dynasty, the Huaqing Hot Springs was destroyed, during the An Lushan Rebellion. The present-day site is only a small part of the Tang Huaqing Palace. The Huaqing Hot Springs which we see today was rebuilt on the site of the Qing Dynasty structure. The palace covers an area of 85,560 square meters.

Entering the West Gate of Huaqing Hot Springs, you will see the Nine-Dragon Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool and the Frost Drifting Hall, etc. All these structures were rebuilt in 1959 according to Tang architectural style.

The Tang Emperor, Xuanzong and his favorite lady, Yang Guifei (Lady Yang), used to make their home in the Frost Drifting Hall. There is always mist and vapor in the air over the pool that is in front of the Hall. In winter, snowflakes fly in the air, and everything in sight becomes white. However, the snowflakes thawed immediately, in front of the Hall. This owes a great deal to the lukewarm vapor that rises out of the hot spring; hence the name of the Frost Drifting Hall.

Close by the Frost Drifting Hall lies the Nine-Dragon Pool. According to legend, the Central Shaanxi Plain was once stricken by a severe drought, in time very long ago. By the order of the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Heaven), an old dragon came with eight young ones, and made rain here. Yet when the disaster was just abating, the dragons lowered their guard, and the drought became serious again. In a fit of anger, the Jade Emperor kept the young dragons under the Jade Causeway, with the Morning Glow Pavilion and the Sunset Pavilion built on the east and west sides of it to make the young dragons spout clear water all day long to meet the needs of local irrigation. He had the old dragon confined to the bottom of the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion which was situated at the upper end of the Jade Causeway. The old dragon was obliged to exercise control over the young.

The Nine-Bend Corridor, which lies to the west of the Nine-Dragon Pool leads directly to the Marble Boat. This boat resembles a dragon boat, floating on the water's surface. In the Marble Boat lies the Nine-Dragon Hot Spring Palace where emperor Xuanzong would take his baths. He would lead his court ladies and hundreds of his officials to Huaqing Palace to spend his winter days, beginning in October of the Lunar Calendar, and return to Chang'an City as the year drew to its close. The Nine-Dragon Hot Spring Pool was originally built of translucent jade. Its surface was decorated with carvings of fish, dragons, birds and flowers. In the pool, twin lotus flowers were also carved, and white jade could be seen there as well. The spring water wells up from a break in an earthen jar, and spouts up to lotus flowers. Hence the name, Lotus Flower Pool (the Lotus Flower Hot Springs).

The source of the hot springs that flows into Huaqing Pool and the historical site of the Five-Room Hall, in the Xi'an Incident, are all situated to the east of the Huaqing Pool.

At this spa there are four hot springs. They have a flow of 112 tons an hour and a constant temperature of 43ºC. The spring water contains lime, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate and other minerals, which makes it suitable for bathing and the treatment of quite a few diseases such as dermatitis, rheumatism, arthritis and muscular pain. The "Fine Sunset—Bathed Pavilion" makes the first source of the spring water, which was discovered some 3,000 years ago, roughly in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Its water flow averages 25 tons per hour.

Climb the steps east of the source of hot springs, and you will gradually see the Five-Room Hall where Chiang Kaishek stayed temporarily during the Xi'an Incident.

The Xi'an Incident took place on December 12, 1936. It is also known as the Double Twelfth Incident. After the Incident of September 18, 1936, Japanese imperialists

seized the three provinces in northeastern China, and intensified their invasion efforts in the North China. This was a very vital time for the Chinese nation. Yet Chiang Kaishek doggedly persisted in carrying out his reactionary policy "domestic tranquility is a must for the resistance against the Japanese invaders". He commanded the Northeast and the Northwest Armies, headed by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, to attack the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region. Inspired by the Chinese Communist Party's policy "let us stop the civil war and unite to resist the Japanese aggressors", these two generals put forward to Chiang Kaishek, the proposal of forming a united front with the Communist Party for the resistance drive. Not only did he reject the proposal, but flew to Xi'an to scheme the "suppression of the Communist Party", and "the slaughter of the patriotic youth". Out of patriotism, Zhang and Yang started the famous Xi'an Incident.

Very early on the morning of December 12, 1936 their plan began. Zhang Xueliang, together with Yang Hucheng, ordered a squad of bodyguards, to surround the Huaqing Hot Springs. They fought a fierce battle there, and wiped out Chiang's bodyguards in one vigorous effort. The sound of firing came to Chiang Kaishek, and he was so terrified that he crept out of a window in his nightgown and slippers. What's more, he hurt his back, and lost one of his slippers while crossing over the back wall. He staggered up Lishan Mountain, and hid himself behind a stone in a crevice, halfway up it. Those brave soldiers began to search the mountain immediately after they had rushed into the Five-Room Hall and found that Chiang's hat and clothes were still there and that his quilt was still warm. In the end they found Chiang, and escorted him to Xi'an.

In order to avoid a civil war and try to establish a united national front for the resistance against Japan, Mao Zedong, on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, insisted on a peaceful settlement of the Incident. Therefore, a delegation headed by Zhou Enlai, was sent to Xi'an. Zhou Enlai and his delegates did a large amount of work there and took everything possible into consideration. Ultimately he forced Chiang Kaishek to accept the proposal that was made by his two generals. On December 25, Chiang was freed, and flew to Nanjing. The Xi'an Incident was settled peacefully.

The peaceful settlement of the Incident put an end to the civil war which had lasted for ten years, and accelerated the formation and development of the United National Front for the Anti-Japanese Drive. Moreover, it showed that the beginnings of cooperative relationships between the Communists and Nationalists arrived at a new level. It marked a great turning point in modern Chinese history.

In the year of 1946 the Nationalist Government had the "National Rejuvenation Pavilion" built near the crevice where Chiang Kaishek had hidden himself during the Incident. It was also called the "Vital Energy Pavilion". After the national liberation it was renamed the "Catching-Chiang Pavilion". Now it has the name of "the Remonstration Pavilion". Close to the pavilion, stands a wooden board, which carries a brief introduction to the Xi'an Incident. Iron chains and rings are fixed up to the crevice, east of the pavilion, by which visitors can climb up, to take a look at Chiang Kaishek's shelter.

Up the winding path, east of the Five-Room Hall, you will see a bridge-like structure. On summer and autumn evenings the sun shines off this bridge in a way that makes it look very much like a rainbow. So it was named the Hovering Rainbow Bridge.

Located on the Xixiu Ridge (the West Embroidery Ridge) of Lishan Mountain, the remains of the beacon tower of the Western Zhou Dynasty is easily identified.

The beacon tower was built at the top of the mountain to give alarm of border attack in ancient times. It was constantly manned by special guards. Once the enemy pressed towards the border, the signal from the beacon tower would be sent. It was made to smoke during the day and would light the sky with fire at night.

A famous story is told about Baosi, Queen of the Western Zhou Dynasty. She was highly honored, yet she never cracked a smile. King You tried many ways to put a smile on her face, but he failed over and over again. He "called his court band to toll bells and beat gongs", and she put on a long face. Then the band was asked to "play the bamboo flute and strings", and she remained displeased. Afterwards, "maids of honor served wine, festively singing and dancing", and she still did not let out a smile.

"You don't like music! What on earth are you fond of?" the King asked.

"I don't have much of a liking for anything. But I can still well remember when I was a child; I liked to listen to the sound of colored silk being torn. It was clear and melodious." she replied. King You said in excitement, "That is very simple. How come you didn't let me know that earlier?"

Thus he ordered the officially appointed property manager to produce colored silk and he assembled fresh and energetic maids of honor and had them tear it into pieces, but Baosi remained unmoved.

“Why didn't you let out a single smile then?" he asked.

"I have not smiled so far," the Queen replied.

The King tried over and over again, but failed repeatedly, and in the end he gave order: "Anyone, either in or out of court, who can amuse Baosi will be awarded one thousand pieces of gold."

Afterwards, Guo Shifu, a treacherous court official, came, and offered advice: "Set the beacon tower on fire and fool your sovereign rulers." That night the King and Queen reached Lishan Mountain by carriage, and gave the order. In a split second, the flames of the fire lit up the sky and the sovereign rulers moved their troops immediately to Lishan Mountain. There they found the King and Queen enjoyed Drinking festively. The King then dispatched his bodyguard to inform them that "Everything is all right. I have just been joking with you." When they found out this, they looked at each other in blank dismay, and left disappointed. Sure enough, Baosi burst into laughter, stroking her hands when she noticed all the troops who had come in vain and now returned noisily. Accordingly, Guo Shifu got a prize of one thousand pieces of gold. Later, King You repeated his joke more often than not. In 771 B.C., Quan Rong (a then minority tribe) staged an armed rebellion against the Western Zhou Dynasty. King You urgently ordered the beacon tower set on fire, but all the sovereign rulers did not come. Consequently King You was killed, and Baosi was taken away. The Western Zhou Dynasty vanished. Herein come the Chinese idioms "A single smile costs one thousand pieces of gold" and "the sovereign rulers are fooled by the beacon fire".

In April 1982, on a construction site that was well under way, the ruins of the Imperial Pools in the Tang Dynasty Huaqing Palace were discovered. After excavation and sorting out the information at hand, archaeologists found the ruins of the five bath pools in an area of 4,200 square meters. They proved them to be, the Star Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool, the Crabapple Pool, the Crown Prince Pool and the Shangshi Pool, all of which were recorded in history. The Museum of the Imperial Pools in the Tang Dynasty Huaqing Palace was built on their ruins and was opened to public in October 1990. "The Chinese Flower Crabapple Pool" was specially built by the order of Tang Emperor Xuanzong for his favorite lady Yang Yuhuan, to bathe in. Therefore it was also called Lady Yang's Pool. The pool was like a platform with two layers, 3.6 meters in length, 2.9 meters in width. It was built of eight stones. The overall view of the pool resembles a Chinese flowering crabapple in full blossom.

Besides the five pools, on display in the museum, there are also several pottery water tubes, and various types of tiles that were unearthed during the excavation. These were building materials during the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

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